Elderwood at Waverly suffered 19 fatalities from Covid-19 as of July 18, 2020, per state records. The nursing home also received 17 citations finding it violated public health code between 2016 and 2020, according to health records accessed on July 20, 2020. It was additionally the recipient of a 2019 fine in connection to findings in a 2018 survey that it violated unspecified health code provisions. The Waverly nursing home’s citations resulted from a total of six surveys by state inspectors. The violations they describe include the following:
1. The nursing home did not properly supervise residents to prevent accidents. Section 483.25 of the Federal Code requires nursing homes to ensure resident environments are kept as free as possible of accident hazards, and that residents received “adequate supervision and assistance devices to prevent accidents.” A January 2019 citation found that Elderwood at Waverly failed to ensure residents received an adequate level of supervision with the use of assistance devices. The citation specifically describes a resident with “moderate cognitive impairment” who required the assistance for transfers and walking. “The resident utilized a wheelchair and walker, was not steady when moving fro a seated to standing position and for surface to surface transfers,” according to the citation, which goes on to describe an instance in which the resident was observed “self-propelling from the dining room to her room using doorways and handrails to assist” and with her feet under her wheelchair’s leg rest foot plates; it also describes another instance in which she stood from her wheelchair to move to the other side of a table in the dining room, and another in which she self-propelled with her feet under her wheelchair’s leg rests. In an interview, the facility’s Director of Therapy stated that “any resident who self-propelled in a wheelchair with their legs and feet should not have leg rests on the chair due to the risk to fall and impeding mobility.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included a revision of the resident’s care plan concerning the use of leg rests.
2. The nursing home did not protect residents from abuse. Section 483.12 of the Federal Code requires nursing homes to protect each resident’s right “to be free from abuse, neglect, misappropriation of resident property, and exploitation.” An October 2018 citation found that Elderwood at Waverly failed to ensure such. The citation specifically describes a resident who “was observed on video being hit by facility staff.” According to the citation, a Registered Nurse “bent to kiss the resident on her forehead” after administering medication, at which point the resident struck theRN in the face, and the RN “responded by grabbing and slapping the resident’s left arm.” A plan of correction undertaken by the facility included the termination of the RN.
3. The nursing home did not properly follow criminal history review procedures. Under Section 402.7 of the Federal Code, nursing home facilities must remove an employee from direct care or supervision of residents when their criminal history record review turns up a negative determination. A January 2019 citation found that Elderwood at Waverly did not immediately remove an employee from resident access when notified that the staffer failed their Criminal History Record Check. In an interview, the facility’s Human Resources Director stated that “she did not recall what happened, the employee should have been pulled from direct care immediately and it was an oversight.”
The attorneys at the Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, PLLC work diligently to protect the rights of nursing home residents. Please contact us to discuss in the event you have a potential case involving neglect or abuse.
